Entertainment & Music The Musician's Thread

I've been learning to play guitar since November last year. Loving it. I've tried to learn a few times over the years and never got anywhere, but I found www.justinguitar.com last year and have been hooked since, practicing every day.

I'm by no means a "player" yet, but I can play enough to enjoy myself and sound somewhat musical. I'm finding easier to pick tunes up now that I have some basic skills.

I'm hooked on finding old, beaten guitars in the classifieds. I've restricted myself to collecting only 1970's Japanese copies of the Gibsons & Martins of the same era. They look and sound amazing, (once polished, restrung and set-up), and can be had for sub $150 in most cases. I have about 12 now, the latest being a 1977 Kiso Suzuki W180 (Martin clone) that I got for $150. It looked a bit shabby but a clean & coat of polish and some new strings and it looks sensational. Plays well, and sounds great too.

My favorite is a 1974 Sigma which sat in the same family's living room for the last 40+ years. It was filthy and still had the original strings, (5 of them anyway). They all snapped the second I touched the tuners as they were that old and rusted. She took $90 for it. Sigma in the 70's were a licensed manufacturer for Martin, 70's Sigmas were built in Japan to Martin specs then shipped to Martin's Nazareth plant in the USA for final inspection, before being sold as Sigma's by Martin. It cleaned up fantastic and is my favorite to play. A Martin from the same era would probably cost 20 times what I grabbed the Sigma for.

These old Japanse guitars are starting to become very collectible, people are realizing the quality of them and just how much guitar you can get for your money compared to the old giants of those days.

 

Here's the Suzuki I cleaned up yesterday, and behind are a couple of Kiso Suzuki Gibson Hummingbird copies form the mid 70's, a 6 string and a 12 string.

Zuke by Anthony Besterfield, on Flickr

 

Good work Y-Man, will have to come back here and update!

 

Who remembers Jackson's Rare Guitars on Paaramatta Rd?

 

Nice thread!
I started playing guitar when I was 12. Rock and metal mostly, more mellow acoustic stuff over the years.
Currently have a 7 string RG Ibanez, 6 string BC Rich Virgin, an Aldi semi-acoustic which I bought recently since someone knocked over my old semi during a Youtube party and broke the neck (it was worth it - and a 70's Fender Precision Bass.
Not much into the amps these days, a bit loud for a unit. Have done recording in DAW using Ableton Live with Line 6 Toneport UX2 (guitar/bass/mic inputs) and amp modelling. Used Drumkit From Hell for programming the drums.
I also started playing drums about 10 years ago, but sold my kit before I left Brisbane and haven't touched them in ages...

 

It's actually not too bad, comparable to a $400 entry level from a music shop.

 

Blues harmonicas ( Lee Oscars mostly ). Through a Fender blues junior amp. Mic is a 'Harmonica Honka'. Which has a small mic you wear on your finger like a ring and a cable going to a small control box you clip to your belt then cabled to the amp. Also been teaching myself guitar for about a year, Washburn electric acoustic. Big steel strings. Just rhythm mostly. No bar chords. No power chords.
Use Eric blackmones you tube tutorials for Blues and echords.com to find chords for any songs I like. Mostly into blues stuff but will play anything. Written a few songs and sing a bit too.
Can't take my eyes off those Gretch's in the music store. Maybe one day?

 

Maybe we could get a " virtual Band " together?

 

Awesome stuff Azazel
Similarly I started playing guitar when I was 9, nearly 30 years ago..was also into metal. First electric was a metallic red Legend with a Peavey Rage!
I saved up and bought an Ibanez Jem77FP.. At age 15 Yep you know the one Stevie Vai played In that David Lee Roth video like living in paradise! Complete w the floral curtain design, floyd rose and tree of life neck.

If there's one adage in property which should also apply to guitars? Buy, hold. NEVER Sell..so sad I got rid of that Ibanez, gave me the opportunity to buy my first USA Strat, a 1995 sunburst w rosewood neck 10 years ago.

As for my profile pic, I just bought my first Gibson - a 1959 Custom Shop ES-175 Reissue about 18 months ago..

have been mainly a Fender collector, 3 other USA strats (a 2004 50th, 2006 60th anniversary and a 2003) and a Telecaster deluxe (2006)..

Cole Clark Fat Lady 2 is my acoustic at this stage, always on look out for another

Played covers bands for twenty years and do the occasional gig here and there inc Jazz standards, bossa nova and the usual rock/pop pub covers

Still lookimg for the ideal valve amp after playing a Fender Super 90 for the last 10'years..

 

Ha! You wouldn't believe it, my 1st guitar was a Legend. Black with humbucker + 2 singles. Still got it somewhere in storage. I got a really crappy tiny amp for xmas 1 year. Then the orange Boss distortion pedal, but it still didn't cut it. Then got a Peavey Rage. Had the Legend and Rage for ages. Then got the BC Rich. Then a Peavey Special 160W. Never did get a Marshall stack though.
The Vai and Satriani Ibanez's are classics. How do you find playing Fenders and Gibsons after that? I can't go back to another electric after the Ibanez, so easy to play

 

I've still,got the Legend in the garage..and I think i gave away my trusty DS-1 distortion..Jim Dunlop Wah hasnt been used for 15 years..main frustration w the Ibanez was the Floyd Rose..it had a beautiful neck (have a photo somewhere )
nowadays enjoy the tone of the strats and have only played the ES-175' once at a gig..wider neck, hands getting used to it. On the hunt for a suitable valve amp, even second hand..and bought a BOss-ME70 last year but only gigged w it once.. Not enough time, w two kids we just jam around w little acoustics, ukes and percussion

 

@The Y-man Hasn't been an issue as yet. Every one that I've found have had great necks, just a quick truss rod adjust has seen them spot on. The Suzuki I got the other day has some minor fret wear on the first 3 or 4 frets, on the 3 highest strings but not enough to affect play-ability. No doubt if I keep buying unseen for such cheap prices I'll turn up a dud sooner or later, but I'm doing well so far.

They just have so much warmth and charm to them as they've aged, the woods are fantastic, they are so tactile.

I think for the most part, these guitars, whilst very well made and were essentially clones of the big names, were never hugely expensive to begin with so you can turn up the odd gem that someone bought as their first guitar 30-40 years ago with all the hopes and aspirations of being the next guitar genius only to leave it sat in a corner gathering dust for the next few decades, then on to Gumtree it goes when they've finally given up on ever being able to play.

 

My first guitar was a $200 strat copy. cheap as but not too bad playing-wise.

Had an Ibanez for a while but sold that. I just couldn't get used to the neck. Have a Cort now that I like much more. Cheaper guitar but I just liked it more.

Ages ago I got a Mesa Dual Rectifier with a Marshall cab which I thought was pretty good. I preferred the Mesa sound over Marshall. The build quality was better too.

Having said that, I haven't played the electric for a few years. I just use my Maton acoustic now ('Australian' Series). I don't play as much as I used to.

I always wanted to get recording gear and get into that but never got around it. Maybe one day.

 

Yeah, I sold the DS-1 a while ago. They're becoming collectable now.
Ah, the joys of changing strings with a Floyd Rose. Ever cut all of the strings off? You'll only do that once
The 7 string is slightly wider, but can't beat the thinness and action.